Fan's Forum

[Snake]

“It's the same principle as why some business rent office and others own their own buildings.

[Pe├▒a Oxford United]

If the club bought the stadium would it be owned by the club or by the owners of the club?

[boris]

The owners of the club. Lenagan stated explicity at the forum that the stadium would be owned by WPL, not OUFC.

[Pe├▒a Oxford United]

That's a situation with an unhappy history, isn't it?

[Isaac]

The owners of the club. Lenagan stated explicity at the forum that the stadium would be owned by WPL, not OUFC.

Right, so even if they do raise the money to buy the stadium, there's no guarantee that the club will benefit from it (by way of either increased turnover for the wage cap or profits) and no guarantee that the stadium can be used to pay off the clubs debts.

So, again, there's no obvious way I can see that the club will be able to pay off £4m worth of debt without either operating at a good profit for a number of years, or by getting lucky and selling a youth teamer on for millions? That's a bit worrying.

[DLT]

I know that it isn't a view agreed by many but you could almost argue that the ground would be better off in the ownership of whoever owned the rest of the Ozone complex.

At least then they would have some obligation to maintain the value of their overall asset and be prepared to accept part of the development bringing in a low return if it enabled more lucrative returns from other elements of the complex.

I understand that the second hotel on the site is now being discussed.

[Frank]

The owners of the club. Lenagan stated explicity at the forum that the stadium would be owned by WPL, not OUFC.

Ummm, didn't sound like that when Merry &amp Co joined us - did it !?

A bit like politicians, drip feed the bad news out- it don't seem so bad then.

[Mark G]

The owners of the club. Lenagan stated explicity at the forum that the stadium would be owned by WPL, not OUFC.

Ummm, didn't sound like that when Merry &amp Co joined us - did it !?

A bit like politicians, drip feed the bad news out- it don't seem so bad then.

Yes, it did, iirc, that was mentioned at the initial press conference and the strategy they proposed for the club. They have never mentioned the stadium being owned by OUFC, in fact, I believe they were explicit in saying when/if the stadium purchased it would be owned by WPL and the purchase was a medium term aim.

They did say however that some of the income streams would go to the club rather than the Stadium company. This time in the presentation, WPL, have said that profits from the Stad company will be ploughed back into OUFC (as operating from same pot so to speak). Don't know if some of the income streams will still go to OUFC but this policy seems reasonable as long as there is a transparent mechanism to ensure it happens.

[Snake]

I don’t think the WPL/OUFC combination is any different to the Firoka (Oxford United Limited) and Firoka (Stadium Company Limited) one. What is damaging is a combination of WPL and Firoka because they are mutually exclusive in financial terms.

As for the politics, then Lenagan admitted at the forum that he didn’t want to upset Harlequins fans by “coming out

[Mark G]

[quote=&quotSnake&quot]
As for the politics, then Lenagan admitted at the forum that he didn’t want to upset Harlequins fans by “coming out

[Pe├▒a Oxford United]

Lenagan took over at (then) Broncos in mid-2005. Whether what he came up with provided them with a secure future is a controversial question.

When they moved to The Stoop (and it would be silly to pretend there were no good reasons for this, whether one agrees with it or not) this was kept very secret and only announced when it was a done deal - though various fans were apparently informed about it beforehand, presumably on a promise of secrecy.

[Matt D]

As for the point about working with Oxford Uni, is it naivety or is it looking at the problem from a different angle to others and finding a new solution.

a bit of both i think. it's certainly inventive. however, i would be very surprised, given the current leadership of the university and its priorities, if it goes for this.

[GodalmingYellow]

[quote=&quotMark G&quot][quote=&quotSnake&quot]
As for the politics, then Lenagan admitted at the forum that he didn’t want to upset Harlequins fans by “coming out

[ty cobb]

'I think Merry/Lenaghan are doing a good job, except for the finances, which are a mess.'

But this is the main job they have to do - if they don't get this right then they're doing a bad job regardless of anything else.

It would be like a team losing every week but it would be ok because the manager was doing a good job, apart from what was happening on the field.

[GodalmingYellow]

'I think Merry/Lenaghan are doing a good job, except for the finances, which are a mess.'

But this is the main job they have to do - if they don't get this right then they're doing a bad job regardless of anything else.

It would be like a team losing every week but it would be ok because the manager was doing a good job, apart from what was happening on the field.

Lets not get into a silly debate over this Ty. It would be all too easy to cloud important issues with arguments on the periphery.

I wouldn't agree that they are doing a good or a bad job purely on the basis of finance. Presumably you disagree. Shall we leave it at that?

Most issues at the club are infinitely better than I've known in all the time I've taken an interest in the finances and running of the club. However, I do agree that financial security of the club is the most important issue and it is fundamental to the medium to long term future.